A mathematical function known as factoring is applied.
Written as n!, it is defined as n x n-1 x n-2 x . . . x 1 (where x means multiplied by)
Example:Given thee letters A, B, C, D, and E, there are 5 choices for picking the first letter. Regardless of which letter is picked first, there are 4 choices for the second letter. Likewise there are 3 choices for the third, 2 for the fourth and 1 for the last.
So, in this case, 5! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120.
There 120 different arrangements for 5 letters.
This holds if all the letters are different. If any of the letters are the same, factor the number of different letters to come up with the answer.
example: T, P, L, T, F would yield 4!, or 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = or 24 distinct arrangements.
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